question about extraction

[Brahma]

Hallo together.

I am really glad I found this board. What a great side this is.
This is the first time I write something, but I have already read a lot and learned so much about the topic. Thank you.

Let me introduce myself; I am 21 years old. English is not my first language, so just excuse if something sounds strange.

I have a question. I can imagine that it is hard to answer it without pics and without knowing anything about the situation, but maybe there´s someone who could give an advise what I could do.

I have no braces yet (my financial situation as a student makes it impossible at the moment). My teeth are quite crowded and do not have enough space. So one tooth in the upper jaw is next to the others, on the side of the palate. The jaw is full an this one is next to the others. It´s really annoying, it causes problems with brushing, eating and even speaking. I´d really like like to get this tooth extracted, it would never fit in the jaw as it seems.

Maybe I find an ortho one day, who could straighten my theeth without extracting so many of them (I heard this could be possible), would it be a problem if that one was missing? In the under jaw everything seems quite okay and they all have their space there. If in the upper jaw one or maybe two (one on the other side) are missing, would it be necessary to extract one or two ones in the under jaw, too, to get it okay? Or is it possible, to have a different number of theeth on the jaws?
I´d like to get rid of this tooth, but not of so many others.

The dentist said, he does not know anything about these things. Maybe I should really go and ask an ortho about this. But it seems quite silly to me to go there and say "oh, but I don´t want a treatment."
What would it cost getting such a question answered?

Thank you for reading.


Have a nice summer evening,

Brahma

[Brahma]

Hi Meryaten,

thank you for your answer.
I think you are right. I really don´t like to make a mistake and miss that tooth one day.

I think I am a little bit too shy for sending someone my pictures. Or is that something you are used to do here? In most boards I know people are horrified about such mails.

I never tried to take photos of my teeth. Here is what came out:
They´re not really good, but I hope you can see what I tried to explain.
I´ll see if I can get some better ones.


Shot at 2007-07-27


Shot at 2007-07-27


Shot at 2007-07-27


See you,

Brahma

[gotjessica?]

In my case I have crowded teeth like you and my canine teeth came out but they are above my teeth.. When my new dentist saw this he decided to remove the four teeth behind each canine- my premolars. I'm going to get braces the 31st and I have four gaps in my mouth. I'm glad I decided to get them extracted because now my canine teeth will fit perfectly in my gaps. I would say wait until you see a dentist in order to prevent any mistakes. Good luck.

[LaaLaa]

I agree with Meryaten, the upper arch seems to be smaller than the lower. I think an Orthodontist will probably recommend extracting some teeth, at least on the upper arch since my upper arch before anything done looked quite similar to yours. I wish I had a picture to show you but unfortunately I only took pictures from the front when I first got braces. If you lived in the U.S., I think most Orthodontists offer a consultation for free so you might want to call around some Orthodontists in your area and see if they do such things cost free or of little cost. Good luck!!

[Brahma]

Hallo,

thank you so much for your answers.

I live in Germany. I don´t know about such schools yet, but it might be a good idea. Thanks.

Your are right, the upper arch is smaller. So you think it would be possible to pull teeth in the upper arch and leave them in the lower (just for information)? Could they still fit together then?

Thank you all.

Yours,

Brahma

[Brahma]

Hallo @all,

thank you for your ideas.
That was quite helpful. Now I am sure I won´t have the tooth pulled without beeing sure that this ist the best way in the long run.

I must admit that I am still a little bit scared of these things. It all appears so drustic.
For example, if it would be possible to expand the jaw that much, woudn´t the whole face look different then?
I am feeling quite insecure with these things. I hope, when it comes to treatment, it would be possible to choose from alternatives instead of beeing pushed the easiest way or something, as I do not know so much about all this. I hope I will find someone I can trust, because I really am easily scared.

And I really admire you dealing with all these big changes that easily.

Thank you for reading my wailing.


greetz,
Brahma

[Brahma]

Hallo @all,

tonight I just fished this thread out of the bulk to knock on the door and asked for permission to come in.
I read a lot here and think the way you all deal with the topic is just great,.

I just like to tell someone; can go now.
I thought a lot and yesterday the money-problem got easily solved, even without the need of throwing all my other priorities over board. After that, I felt how scared I have been and that this only served as an excuse, so that I did not need to really do anything. Now I blowed the cover and there is the chance.

I cannot tell you how excited I am. In a few days I´ll visit the ortho to hear what he suggests and see If he´s nice enough to be allowed to do something with my teeth. *LOL*
I just woke up in the morning and knew, now is the time to make true what I never dared to expect. I have been sure that nice, healthy and straight teeth is something that only happens to others. That it could work for me makes me really excited.
Now it gets started and as a first step I hope to find an ortho that can make me feel calm during the journey.
But even if it gets rough or uncomfortable, I am sure I can make it. Never felt like this before with this topic.

There are still some concerns about if it really will be good. Important things get changed in a process I do not oversee and I´ll have to live with the result. But I think this is just the last void of fear of the unknown. I am sure I will be confident with my decision.
Now I am curious about what is possible to be done.

Thank you for listening to my jumping up and down. Just needed to tell someone. I don´t want to talk about it to too many people around me because of avoiding listening to sayings that might support my concerns too much.
And really thank your for answering my questions in the past. Maybe without this forum I would have chosen an easier way without believing in anything else to be possible.

see you,
Brahma

[Brahma]

Thank you, kiwi. Nice to read that.
Yeah, I already made a list of questions I´ll ask. Things will be well planned. I guess there will still be some things I´ll have to deal with myself, but I surely can also clear the rest of it.

greetz,
Brahma

[Brahma]

Oh, thank you so much, Meryaten. I think that will help.
I´ll make sure that I understand everything. Otherwise I could never feel safe I think. And after all I don´t want to put the responsibility for all that to anyone else completely.
Thank you for your support.

Brahma

[Brahma]

Hallo,

is there someone who can tell me, whether I have my piercing in the ear to be taken out when making x-rays?
If it is because of the metal, can I put one made of PTFE in for that day or isn´t that allowed either?

Thanks for an answer.

Brahma

[Brahma]

Okay then. Thanks.

[Brahma]

Oh well, hallo.

Today was my first visit to the ortho. It was not very informative, because he refused answering any question without a modell. So he made one.
He said he isn´t sure if ist would be possible to create that much space in the upper jaw, so he suggested extracting two teeth. I can imagine that this might be true.
As the upper jaw is smaller than the lower one and I have a crossbite, he also said we should make the lower jaw smaller so that they are the same size. That is something I cannot imagine. He could do that by extracting two more teeth from the lower jaw and that does not seem to be necessary for other reasons. But he wasn´t sure at all.
He said "everything is quite easy. You are an adult, there isn´t much to do any more." Well...
He even said it could be done by Invisalign. Really...
I have another appointment in two weeks, when he thinks to be able to explaine things more detailed.

Would be nice if it was that easy as he sais. I´m a little bit doubting.

Best regards ,
Brahma

[Gennel]

I'm no expert either but I have seen several cases like yours. It looks like your upper arch is too narrow . They might use an expander. That way they most likely will not pull any teeth on top because you will have enough room to align them. I agree with others , don't pull any teeth until you have a consult. Many orthodontist offer free consultations. Call around and ask. Ask for people with braces who they are seeing and how good their ortho is.


Gennel

[sauerkraut]

Hi Brahma

I agree that you should get a second opinion. You'll be seeing the ortho for many years to come, so you need to find someone you get on with and have confidence in.

Before I left the UK (10 years ago!) I saw an orthodontist privately and he wanted to pull a load of teeth to make room as well. But I'd already had teeth pulled for the braces I wore as a teenager (which was a complete disaster by the way) so I wasn't happy with that solution, or with the fact that he spent more time discussing finances than my treatment plan!

Several years later, my kids needed braces and their orthodontist kept asking about my teeth every time I took them for an appointment! So in the end I had my own consultation with him. He was dead against more extractions on top, although for various reasons one tooth in the lower jaw will need to come out later, and he told me I need my top jaw expanded. To be on the safe side I got a second opinion and was told exactly the same thing. Then the surgeon who'll be doing the expansion surgery said that if I'd had extractions from the top jaw there was a good chance my face would have caved in! Obviously every case is different, but I think that shows it's worth making absolutely sure your orthodontist knows exactly what he's up to!

Incidentally, my consultations have all been covered by the Krankenkasse so far. The rules are a bit complicated but if you need surgery and the surgeon and orthodontist make a good case for a joint treatment plan, then most of the basic costs of the whole treatment are covered in the end. Or so I'm hoping anyway!

All the best.

[Brahma]

Hallo,

thank you so much for your answers.
Up to now, I did not really have much to think about, because the ortho is still "planning" or something. He did not want to say anything without having looked at x-rays and models for two weeks. Next week we meet again to see what he thinks might be done.
I am not really happy about extracting teeth. But I am even more unhappy with surgery, I am absolutely resistant for several reasons. If the result is not perfect without surgery, it´s okay. I might offer up two teeth on the top, but never four of them. And I really cannot imagine what it would look like after expanding the jaw that much. He said it was "extremely narrow" and did not know yet if all teeth could be aligned.

Making the lower jaw narrower as he suggested sounds a bit strange to me (my tongue will get claustrophobia surely), I´ve thought making things wider would have been the first choice. Now I decided to wait and see what he is telling next week. I plan to ask my loads of questions to see whether we can find compromises for things I might not be able to deal with.
After that I´ll probably see another ortho for comparison.

But at the moment I am a bit doubtful about that. Yesterday I already went to meet another ortho, without any x-rays or something, just to see if it would be possible to communicate with him. It wasn´t, I would never go back there. He also said he would extract teeth, even four of them and only mentioned expanding the jaw when I asked. Well... That would be much space.
But now I am thinking about who would be the better choice. Maybe some of you already have had similar thoughts- otherwise you could say I am crazy.

The first ortho who suggested to extract only two teeth if not enough space could be created is quite young, just working for one or two years. He seems to be orientated to avoiding extracting too many teeth.
I suppose several years earlier extraction was the common way. That might be good, but I ask myself how much experience someone like that first one might have. Is he still experimenting? Bad thoughts, I know.
But if I choose one of the older ones, who might have much experience he maybe works with the "good old methods", like obviously the second one does, who wanted to extract four teeth at once and left no way for any discussion.
I think I just see what I feel okay with when I know what the first one and one another would do exactly and then see if I could survive that. I am still a bit scared.

I have one more question. Both of the orthos I met showed me the type of brackets they use. Do I have to take what they offer (maybe because of their contracts with the companies or practising or something) or are they also able to go with anything else? Maybe it doesn´t matter what they use because everything works if they know what they´re doing, but I really would like to do it with self-ligating brackets. Do I know have to search for one who offers that especially or is it common for everyone to use?
I´ll put that to my loads of questions I think.

Sorry for babbeling so much. Talking to you is really helpful. It helps sorting the thoughts and your answers always are full of information.
Thanks a lot.

greetz

Brahma